Color medium.



C. 0. ELLIS.

COLOR MEDIUM.

' APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26. 1918.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEETI INVENTOR Cfl/iz 0541.15

ATTORN EY Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOR 64m. 0. 41. /.5

g am k $0M ATTORNFY CARL O. ELLIS, OFTACOMA, WASHINGTON.

COLOR MEDIUM.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL O. ELLIS, citizen of the United States, residing at Tacoma, inthe county of Pierce and State of Washington, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Color Mediums, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in color mediums that are adapted for use in the operation of producing color effects upon objects disposed upon the stage of a theater, and the object of my invention is to provide a color medium of simple form of construction and which shall embody a plurality of small removable sections of colored glass so that when one of such sections is broken it may be replaced without renewingthe entire color medium.

Further objects reside in the form of construction of the color medium and in the use of a centrall arranged cross-bar which strengthens the f i'ame and enables small sections of glass to be used and at the same time does not cast any appreciable shadow when the light from a lamp is caused to pass through the color medium.

In theaters it is customary to use color mediums for the purpose of casting colored light on any desired object on the stage. These color mediums as ordinarily used are simply transparent colored plates that are formed of some non-breakable gelatinous substance and are adapted to be held in front of a-lamp or other'source of light so that the rays of light from the lamp will be caused .to pass through the color medium before they fall upon the objects toward which they are directed and will thereby produce a coloring effect on the objects.

Obviously, separate color mediums or plates will be required for different colors that are to be thrown on the stage The use of colored glass in the construction of 'color mediums is ordinarily unsatisfactory for the reason that they are handled a great deal and are very liable to be broken thus making them comparatively unreliable and expensive.

My invention overcomes both of these objectionable features by providing a glass color medium that is constructed of a pluof small sections of glass placed in a frame fromwhich they are easily removable so that when one section of the glass is broken the utility of the entire color medium is notldestroyed and the broken section Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 1, 1919.

Application filed March 26, 1918; Serial No. 225,128.

may be quickly and easily replaced by a new sect1on.' In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a view in elevation illustrating color med1ums constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in cross-section on broken line 2, 2 of Fig. 1; 1 Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view in cross-section on broken line 3, 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 41 is a view in elevation illustrating a circular color medium constructed in accordance with my invention, and

Fig. 5 is a view in cross-section on broken line 5, 5 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference numerals designate like parts, the numerals 6 and 7 designate the two sides and 8 and 9 the two ends of a rectangular frame that is constructed in accordance with my invention and is provided with a longitudinally extending. medially disposed bar 10 which is parallel with the side members 6 and 7 and divides the frame into'two halves.

The side members 6 and 7 and the media] bar 10 are each grooved in a well known .manner, as indicated at 11 for the recepe tion of the ends of glass color medium sections 12 that are adapted to slide vertically within the grooves 11.

The lower end bar 8 of the frame is grooved in a similar manner for the reception of the sideedges of the lowermost sections 12 of glassl The upper frame bar 9 is of less thickness than the remaining parts of the frame so that one of its sides is flush with one side wall of the grooves 11 as more clearly shown in Fig- 3, thus leaving the upper ends of the grooves open, and the uppermost sections 12 of glass are held in position by removable cleats 13 that are provided on one edge with notches 14 and are adapted to be secured to the frame bar 9 by screws 15.

From the above description taken in connection with the drawings, it will be apparent that when the cleats 13 are removed the sections 12 of colored glass may be freely inserted in or removed from the grooves 11.

When a sectional color medium constructed in this manner is struck hard enough to break the glass, usually only one or two of the sections 12 will be broken and such sections can easily and quickly be replaced with new ones by removing the cleats 13.

If one of the sections 12, toward the central portion of the color medium, is broken While the device is in use the fragmentsof broken glass may be removed from the grooves 11 and the sections above may be allowed to move downwardly to form a solid central portion through which light may be projected and to leave an opening at the top of the color medium which does not seriously impairits utility and which may be filled by a new section of glass at the convenience of the operator.

It will thus be seen that the breaking of one or two central sections does not render the entire device inoperative and that the broken sections may be removed at a very small cost.

' Where rectangularly shaped color mediums areused they are preferably slidably mounted, one above another in a grooved frame 16, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, each of the color mediums being of a different color and being adapted to be moved into a position in front of a lamp 17 so that the rays of thelamp may be projected there-.

through.

The use of the central frame bar 10 makes it possible to construct a practical color medium out of small sections of glass and it has been found by experiment that when the device is thus constructed and is used in connection with a lamp as illustrated in Fig. 2, the rays of light are so deflected and diffused by the colored glass that no appreciable shadow is cast by the centrally disposed frame bar 10.

In Figs. a and 5 I have illustrated a circular color medium constructed in accordance with my invention, this circular color medium comprises a circular frame 20 having a diametrically arranged bar 21, the edges of the frame 20 and bar 21 being grooved for the reception of the edges of glass sections 22 that correspond to the sections 12.

In this circular form of construction I have provided cleats 23 that correspond to the cleats 13 and necessarily extend half way around the frame to permit the insertion of the longest section 22.

The circular color mediums are not adapted to move in guides but when in use are held in front of a lamp so that light rays will be'projected through them.

Manifest-1y, changes may be made in the forms, dimensions and arrangement of parts of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is! 1. A color medium of the class described including an open frame provided with a central bar having a longitudinal groove in 1,2es,e17

each of the opposite side edges thereof, and a plurality of sections of'colored glass having their outer ends detachably mounted. in said frame from end to end thereof at each side of said bar with their adjacent edges in contacting relation, said glass sections having their inner ends slidably removably positioned in the grooves of said central bar.

2. A color medium of the class described comprising an open internally grooved frame, a bar provided with longitudinal one side face thereof is disposed in the same plane as one side wall of said grooves whereby said grooves are left open at saidother end portion of the frame, a plurality of sections of colored glass having their ends slidably fitted within said frame grooves with and a cleat removably secured to said thinner end portion of the frame to secure said glass sections within the grooves of said frame and to allow said glass sections to be successively slidably inserted in or removed from said grooves.

4. A color medium of the class described including an open frame internally grooved on two side portions and one end portion, the other end portion of the frame being thinner than the remainder of said frame so that one side face thereof is disposed in the same plane as one side wall of said grooves, whereby said grooves are left open at saidother end portion of the frame, a central bar within said frame having a longitudinal groove in each of the opposite side edges thereof, a plurality of sections of colored glass having their ends slidably fitted within said grooves of the frame and the their adjacent edges in contacting relation,

bar with their adjacent edges in contacting In witness whereof, 1 hereto subscribe my name this 16th day of March A. D. 1918.

CAR-L O. ELLIS. 

